Seven Years
by Alabaster86
Summary: Seven years changes a person; no one knows this better than Ursa.


A/N: Written for xlollx; she requested a Zuko/Ursa reunion scene.

**Seven Years**

Ursa had grown hard and cold over the past seven years. Murder and deceit and banishment and a life of toil tended to do that to someone. She hardly ever thought of the Fire Nation now. Their soldiers did not touch the remote, mountainous Earth Kingdom village that became her home once she hiked up the mountain's slope all those years before.

News of the war was a rare thing, and she found herself paying less and less attention as the weeks and months and years lumbered by, their passage like the pouring of molasses from one bottle to another, slow and tiresome.

News from 'home' was nonexistent. Contact with her children or the remainder of her family was forbidden. Banishment had essentially wiped her existence away. At first, especially during those early days of travel, she wondered and worried about Zuko and Azula. Would he manage without her all right? How would Ozai treat him now that his bothersome wife was out of the way? Zuko was a sensitive child, a good child, one who needed encouragement and support. She knew that he would no longer get that from anyone, except perhaps Mai. That knowledge tore at her heart. But he was _alive_. Her Zuko still breathed and where there was breath there were possibilities.

Azula, she was another story all together. Ursa's daughter was cold and bright, like a diamond, skilled and manipulative, sought after because of those startling abilities that showed themselves at such a young age. Would she miss her mother? Ursa had chuckled at the very idea. But the tiny bit of influence she had over Azula might have been all that kept the girl from going down a disastrous road. Ursa prayed not, but was pessimistic.

But Ursa didn't wonder any longer, except sometimes in her dreams; vivid, terrible things that ripped at her very soul. The former princess wished that somehow she could control the nighttime visions, make them go away forever. She even sought help from the village's healer. Sleeping draughts were not enough to banish the dreams as _she_had been banished. They hung on stubbornly, hiding out in dark, unused portions of her mind, just waiting for the right opportunity to make their presence known.

Eventually, blissfully, the dreams died too and Ursa almost forgot that she was ever a Fire Nation citizen at all. She kept mostly to herself but made a few friends. No one knew her true identity. They guessed, from her eyes and from her complexion and from her accent, that she was at least part Fire Nation. But no one bothered her about that. She was accepted and treated with the same quiet respect that everyone else received.

The end of the war was news far too big _not_ to hear about however. Ursa wasn't sure what to think. Her son was Fire Lord. Her daughter and her husband both defeated, the Avatar triumphant. She knew what it all meant for the world, but Ursa did _not_know what it meant for her.

"Maybe you can go home now," one of her friend's suggested tentatively.

"What do you mean? I am home." Ursa stared at the woman strangely.

"Ursa," her friend continued, laying a gentle hand on her arm. "We're not blind and we're not stupid. You're from the Fire Nation, aren't you?"

'That was a long time ago," she snapped. "It's not home anymore. I feel comfortable here."

"Comfortable isn't always good, Ursa, dear. Think about it."

* * *

><p>As it turned out, thinking wasn't necessary. Zuko found her a few weeks later. She hardly recognized the young Fire Lord or the young woman who accompanied him. And she could see the shock in his own eyes as the memory of what his mother <em>had<em>been was cast out in favor of who she was now.

"Seven years," Ursa muttered. Her fingers ached to reach out and touch her son, but she wasn't ready yet.

"Seven years," he echoed. Zuko held tightly onto Mai's hand, not ready yet to let go.

The moment was awkward and strange and a bit uncomfortable. Ursa's gaze kept drifting back to the seventeen year old's scar. 'Must be from a battle,' she surmised. 'Strange, though, something doesn't fit.'

"I'll tell you all about that later." Zuko's smile was strained. "Are you ready to come home, Mom? I've," his voice cracked and Mai gave his hand a squeeze. "I've missed you so much. And I've got so much to catch you up on."

Ursa said nothing, but her posture began to relax. She tried out a smile and found that if felt right. She widened it then, and bestowed it upon both young people. "I-I-everything feels so strange. You were just a little boy and I was, different. I'm not the same mother you knew, Zuko." Saying his name aloud, feeling it roll off her tongue while he stood in front of her was joy. He was whole and healthy and happy, judging from the gleam in his eyes and the obvious intimacy between him and Mai.

"That's okay," her son replied with his own smile. "We just want you home, different or not. We've got lots of time now to get to know each other. I've changed too."

"Yes, yes, I can see that." Her voice was definitely proud now and Zuko beamed in response.

Ursa moved forward a few steps, close enough to touch her son. He was taller than she was now, and stood with a confidence that he did not have before. Reaching outward, she touched his good cheek, eventually cupping it in her warm hand. "My son," she whispered.

Taking her hand in his, he pressed it to his heart. "My mother."

Ursa wept then and Zuko took her into his arms. Mai watched as a little _more_ light entered her lover's eyes. He was beautiful in his happiness.


End file.
